ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 16, 1996 TAG: 9612160107
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Monty S. Leitch
SOURCE: MONTY S. LEITCH
IT'S PRETTY quiet around here. The other afternoon I looked out the kitchen window, and there went a possum. In broad daylight. In the middle of the afternoon. Just moseyin' along, pokin' his possum nose in whatever interestin' stuff he happened to spot along the house foundations.
This, no doubt, is the same possum I've seen a couple of times around the woodshed. But those spottings occurred at night, with the possum's eyes caught, bright and beady, in the headlights of my car. You don't often see a possum during the day.
Ditto raccoons. But three raccoons have been visiting the birdfeeder. Also in broad daylight. Also in the middle of the afternoon. They scare away the birds. But they scare away the squirrels, too.
As I said, it's pretty quiet around here. And so these normally noctural creatures feel quite safe visiting any time.
There's no point in trying to shoo away a possum. Shout at a possum and it just lies down and "dies." But sometimes I shout at the 'coons. Which doesn't really do any good, either.
And so, mostly I let 'em be. They are, after all, handsome creatures, even when they're thieving.
Besides, I like it pretty quiet.
And I'm very luck that, most of the time, it's pretty quiet around here.
We could all do, it seems to me, with a little more quiet. We could all do, in fact, with some silence.
When was the last time you sat in silence? I don't mean merely a time of not talking. I mean a time of silence: no radio on in the car, no television on in the living room, and no talking, too. No talking out of your mouth, and no talking in your brain, either. When was the last time?
Maybe you can't remember a single time of silence in your life. There's always Muzak, or the evening news, or someone calling out from the next room "Mom!" There's always a phone ringing, a baby crying or an argument leftover from yesterday replaying in the back of your mind. There's always a co-worker leaning on your door jamb with a disgusted smirk on his face, or a client sitting across the table, growing nastier by the minute. Some nights, your brain is busy clicking down the rest of your "to do" list, even as you tell the sixth telephone solicitor of the evening, "No, no, no."
Oh, you can feel the muscles in your shoulders tighten as you read!
You need a little quiet. You need to stand at your kitchen window still enough, long enough, to spot a possum moseyin' along.
OK, so you'd rather not spot a possum. I don't blame you. possums are pretty awful. But there must be something you'd like to spot, something that only comes out in the quiet. What is it?
The slow spiral of a single, unique snowflake? A smile of recognition, or love welling up in the eyes of one of your children? Surprise. The streetlights coming on in your neighborhood, or the morning sun glazing windows, first one and then another, as it moves into your street. Fog lifting. Your husband waking. Your wife moving across the living room floor with that particular grace you remember from the very first time you saw her. A shadow of fear or hope or pride, as it flickers over the face of someone you know. A new idea.
You need silence.
So, for just five minutes today, turn off the television. Turn off the radio. Turn off that constant conversation in your head. Stand, and stare out a window. Or sit at your desk with your eyes closed. Be quiet. I promise you a miracle.
Of course, it might look like a possum.
Monty S. Leitch is a Roanoke Times columnist.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 linesby CNB